I once spent three wonderful months in New York about 10 years ago. The people were really friendly, and the city itself was incredibly exciting. However, there was one moment that was not all too pleasant. I had gone to the local store to buy some wine, and the shopkeeper asked for my ID. I was only just 21 at the time, so this seemed perfectly normal. In fact, I had my passport on me for exactly that reason.

The thing is, though, that on noticing that it was a foreign passport, the person took a good long look at it, flicked through it, and searched for my visa, even though I had handed it to him with the correct photo page open for him to see. It was a moment that annoyed and shocked me.

I was annoyed mainly because I didn’t think it was his business to check my visa.

If he had been someone at the airport, then that would have been fine, of course. But it struck me as incredibly intrusive, and intimidating, that someone would take it upon themselves to look for that specific information, rather than the general information they had initially asked for. It was all so very sinister. I have come to find that in life, there are people to whom exerting power over other people is too appealing to resist. They will take the opportunity at the drop of a hat and will exclaim that it is their right to do so. There are, of course, those who don’t.

Those who, when placed in a position of power over others, rush to make sure they are as compassionate as possible. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Like the shopkeeper I mentioned, there are always going to be those who will never pass on an opportunity to flex such a muscle the second they have the chance.

It is not just the PM’s actions and attitude that are worrying, but also the fact that such behaviour appeals to the rather less compassionate side of our country

I mention this in light of the recent statements made by our Prime Minister regarding the deportation of immigrants back to Mali. In what has been called the “surprise detention” of the group of Malians, the Prime Minister has sent a very sinister message to certain types of people, whether he meant to or not, to show them that he is exerting such power over a group of people he knows many Maltese don’t like.

I don’t think there was any need to make this move so public. There are plenty of more subtle, less surprising ways of dealing with what was referred to as an initiative at an EU level. The migrants could have been contacted privately, had the situation explained to them and had their rights explained to them.

It could have all been done more sensitively.

These are people who had nothing to hide, were not trying to play the system, and some have even lived here for around 10 years. There was nothing criminal about their activity. There was no need to surprise them with the news of their deportation.

It is not just the Prime Minister’s actions and attitude that are worrying, but also the fact that such behaviour appeals to the rather less compassionate side of our country. The fact that migrants in Malta can be seen as easily sent back, that they can be surprised with a deportation notice, may give wind to the sails of the people who want to see much worse happen to them to begin with.

Those who, like the aforementioned shopkeeper, will see it as their ‘right’ to wish someone to be sent away.

Or perhaps that was the plan all along? Maybe our Prime Minister wants to appeal to the Trump-supporting types in Malta, lest he finds that he has lost the next election for being liberal. The right wing in Malta often quotes the right wing slogans of Dom Mintoff, so it would be no surprise to find out that most right-wingers traditionally vote Labour.

It is a shame how the lives of the most vulnerable are used so unscrupulously by an establishment that wants votes from the wrong sort of people. I hope that his actions do not fan the flames of hate in Malta and give more people terrible ideas.

Edward Caruana Galizia is an actor and studied psychosocial studies at Birkbeck University of London.